Exactly. They have a vested interest in estimating and controlling the risk.

Wrong. It is cheaper to pay out once in a while vs cleaning up

Insurance 1.0.1: that's what controlling the risk is. But they want to avoid systematic risk that would suddenly have the damage claims explode. a runaway debris effect and a solar flare are the most likely things to do so. Other than that, it would be wasteful to try to save every single sat, despite how counterintuitive that seems

MAUI, Hawaii Ė A senior Pentagon official said the U.S. Air Force will need to rethink how it issues satellite collision warnings when a new space object tracking system goes online or risk overwhelming satellite operators and hardware systems with overly cautious alerts.

In 2018, the Air Forceís next-generation space object tracking system, known as the Space Fence, will go online and detect satellites and space debris 5 centimeters and larger. Defense Department officials said they are optimistic that on the best days, the $900 million Space Fence, built by Lockheed Martin on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, may be able to track objects as small as 1 centimeter. Thatís a marked improvement over the Defense Departmentís current network of radars and sensors, which tracks objects 10 centimeters and larger.

But that additional precision means the Air Force will have tracking data for 200,000 objects, up from the approximately 20,000 objects it tracks today.